Scholar-in-Residence Gary Friedland Testifies Before Congress, Citing Research with Professor Jeanne Calderon on the Immigrant Investor EB-5 Program

— April 13, 2016

Thus, if the commercial traffic pattern approach would enable the large-scale real estate projects in Gateway cities to qualify as a TEA, it is difficult to view this approach as a serious effort at TEA reform.

Scholar-in-Residence Gary Friedland delivered testimony based on his joint work with Professor Jeanne Calderon at a Congressional hearing convened by the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on the immigrant investor EB-5 program. The hearing, entitled, “The Distortion of EB-5 Targeted Employment Areas: Time to End the Abuse,” was held on April 13, 2016.

EB-5 capital as a subsidy available to all projects, not limited to projects located in TEAs

The prevalence of urban area TEA projects in today’s market

Factors to be considered by Congress in redefining TEAs

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) role in fostering gerrymandering

Current opportunities for USCIS to remedy the problem

California’s approach to TEA Designation

Why visa reserves might be as – or more – important than TEA project qualification

Friedland argued: “Thus, if the commercial traffic pattern approach would enable the large-scale real estate projects in Gateway cities to qualify as a TEA, it is difficult to view this approach as a serious effort at TEA reform. It negates the original intent of Congress, provides the greatest incentive for immigrants to invest in the largest projects and in affluent areas that are most likely to be able to attract conventional capital, and thus, renders TEA status meaningless.”